Report Addresses Reasons College Websites Are Turning Away New Students

Allentown, PA, May 6, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Technology provider KDG has released their annual report detailing the reasons a large number of college websites fail to make the grade with prospective students.

"Our research revealed five mistakes that colleges often make on their websites," said Kyle David, CEO of KDG. "These mistakes may seem trivial, but they are the primary reasons many students often choose an inferior college that just happens to have a better website."

These mistakes may seem trivial, but they are the primary reasons many students often choose an inferior college that just happens to have a better website.

Kyle David, CEO

These report is the result of a year of research and user testing, and examined prospective students’ experiences with dozens of college and university websites. Using one-on-one user tests, focus groups, and user-experience studies, KDG asked hundreds of prospective students to provide feedback their experience with school websites. KDG asked students to evaluate school websites based on the following criteria: usability, uniqueness, focus, and message retention, especially as compared with competitive schools.

“When we reviewed the data, we found that prospective students are no longer forgiving of sites that fail them in certain key areas,” added David. “Traditional prospective students have grown up in a world that sees the usability, simplicity, and readability of Facebook and Buzzfeed to be the standard. Websites have to compete with that standard and do it successfully.”

As indicated by the report, school websites increasingly impact prospective students’ interest in a school and, therefore, enrollment rates. Institutions that have failed to elevate their websites to meet students’ changing expectations experienced a 30-40% decrease in overall unique visitors during the past admissions cycle.

KDG has released a free overview of the report on their blog at: http://kyledavidgroup.com/blog/5-things-prospective-students-are-not-looking-for-in-a-college-website/

About KDG:  KDG (formerly The Kyle David Group) is a leading provider of web development for higher education. With over 15 years of experience in using technology to help education clients to improve enrollment, campus climate, and alumni participation, KDG has developed a reputation for being able to see and respond proactively to changing markets. Most recently, KDG won wide acclaim for developing unique and engaging higher education crowdfunding campaigns. Learn more at www.kyledavidgroup.com

Source: KDG